Baby You Can Drive My Car
by ThePrincessTigerLily
Summary: One car ride plus one party equals an unexpected outcome for Summer Hathaway...SF
1. A Hard Day's Night

So, I may make this a chaptered fic, or at least a two-shot, but I'm not sure yet…

Disclaimer: I do not own School of Rock or any characters in School of Rock...sadly.

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Summer Hathaway wondered, for about the eleventh time, what she had done to get saddled with the job of babysitting Freddy Jones. She definitely didn't remember signing up for the job. In fact, she couldn't think of anyone who was _less_ suited for the job. Although she'd known Freddy since the first grade (they'd had an argument over who got to use the plastic dinosaurs for a counting game) they'd never gotten along. 

Summer and Freddy's friendship had always been unpredictable at best. Summer was the overachiever, the girl with the 4.5 G.P.A. and acceptance letters to any college she wanted. Freddy, on the other hand, was the kind of boy that set fire to Zack's backpack in the chem. lab to get out of a test. Her hair was always perfect and her clothes impeccable. He always looked like he'd rolled out of bed. They fought about everything, whether it was who got the last piece of pizza or whether the drum solo in a particular song was one minute thirty seconds or one minute thirty-seven seconds. She figured that the rest of the band should know this by now…so why was she the one who had been chosen to drive the fifteen miles to Freddy's house to pick him up for the promotional party?

The band had done better than anyone could've imagined, considering it had begun with a middle-aged wash-up and a bunch of grade-school kids. Even though the kids were quite a bit older now, people still seemed to really love the band. Summer had noticed that some of her friends even had posters of Zack and Freddy on their walls. Despite all the fame, the band's parents all made sure that they were protected from the media and led lives outside of the band. Although Summer sometimes wished they were allowed to have some of the fun celebrities did, they all managed to get invited to a few promotional parties where they shook important people's hands, ate tons of appetizers, and smiled until their faces hurt. This particular party was for promoting their third album ("really serious stuff…it came from a place we've never been before," Dewey had said), and so of course Freddy's car had to break down, _and _no one else could get him except her. Perfect.

She couldn't believe that HE was going to just invade her car. Summer's car had always held a special place in her heart. It was a slightly battered, bright blue 2002 Toyota Prius Hybrid, and for all intents and purposes, it was just another one of Summer's friends. She refused to believe that the fact she called it Trixie and talked to it when no one was around was a sign of mental illness. She just felt different in her car. She could yell at people, drive fast, and drink coffee if she wanted. She didn't have to conform to her perpetual "good girl" image while in her car. She was just another anonymous driver. She knew where everything was and kept it impeccably clean. The CDs went in the glove compartment (except for all the ones Freddy had burned her…those went in the drawer under the passenger seat), school things went in the back on the right side, and if she went shopping, the bags went in the trunk, and only the trunk. Summer did NOT like the idea of Freddy Jones barging into her four-wheeled sanctum and messing everything up. However, she'd known Freddy for long enough to know that wherever he went, chaos and disorder followed…and Summer Hathaway did _not_ care for chaos and disorder. Checking her clock, she groaned. She'd told Freddy to be outside at exactly 7:45 and it was currently 8:02 and he was nowhere to be seen. She leaned on the horn and tapped her fingers irritably on the steering wheel.

Just then, the door opened and Freddy himself sauntered out and towards her car. For a moment, her mouth dried and she forgot she hated him with every fiber of her being. As much as she couldn't stand him, she found that whenever she saw him, her stomach did a funny somersault. She chalked it up to the fact that he was just a good looking boy; of course she'd have that reaction. It was perfectly normal. Tonight his hair looked spiky, but at the same time soft and messy. He wore dark washed jeans and an old _Abbey Road_ t-shirt. He slid into the seat next to her and immediately began fiddling with her radio.

"Imogen Heap?" he snorted, ejecting the CD and tossing it carelessly on the passenger seat floor. Summer ground her teeth in irritation and focused on pulling out of the driveway.

"For your information, she is a dedicated artist who revolutionized the alternative pop genre," she said haughtily, realizing that he'd only been in the car for about thirty seconds and they were already careening towards disaster. His eyes darkened, as they usually did when they were about to start another argument, but at the last minute, he bent his head and turned back to her CD case. Summer almost welcomed the oncoming dispute…anything that would distract her from her first glimpse of him, and she was disappointed that he'd refused to rise to her bait. However, a few minutes later, he seemed willing to take up the challenge because he replied,

"By revolutionize, I think you mean inundate the markets with another whiny girl singer who can only cry about her failed relationships," and continued to rummage in her CDs until he came up with a Hendrix album. For some unexplainable reason, the fact that he wasn't responding just made her angrier.

"Well, at least she has relationships to sing about. How many have you had in the last year? Oh that's right, none. You just hook 'em and leave 'em. I guess a womanizer like you would be immune to normal human emotions," she snapped, clenching her hands on the steering wheel. She knew it was low, but she couldn't seem to stop herself. There was just something about him that brought out her intense emotions, and she always found herself saying things that she never dreamed she'd say to people. Normally, he'd dismiss her comments with a flip comment, but she was surprised when he jerked his head up and gave her an icy glare.

"For your information, I am perfectly capable of having a functional relationship. Just because I haven't pledged undying, devoted love in high school doesn't mean that I can't have a relationship. Besides, I think pledging undying love is more your thing, isn't it," he shot back. She let out a hissing breath. Of course he would bring up Jonathan. She suddenly felt all the fight go out of her, leaving her with an almost calm emptiness.

Jonathan Sanders had moved to their school in Summer's sophomore year. He'd been a junior, and in Summer's eyes he was the most amazing boy she'd ever seen. He had rumpled looking brown hair and sleepy blue eyes. He'd been in her advanced English class and she'd been entranced by the way he slumped in his seat and talked back to the teacher while managing to keep up a perfect average. She could hardly believe it when he asked her out. She'd felt like she was on top of the world. At first, everything was great. He wrote her poems and took her to coffee shops to listen to emo boys rage into microphones. They went to alternative films and art shows. When she was with him, she felt cultured, different, like a girl in a French film or a heroine in a novel. She was sure it was love. Only then he changed. He kept pushing her physically and would constantly critique her. As a result, Summer began pushing herself more and more, striving for that perfect paper or test score. She felt like she wasn't the girl he wanted anymore. So she changed. By the time her junior year rolled around, Summer was barely eating and hardly ever sleeping. She remembered thinking that if this was love, she really didn't understand why so many people felt compelled to write songs about it.

In the middle of the year, Jonathan had called her and told her that he wanted to break up. He'd said a lot of things, seeming to know exactly what would hurt her the most. He told her she was stupid and that there were other girls.

"I thought you were different, someone more cultured and adult," he'd said. She hadn't even said anything on the phone. She'd just held it numbly until he'd talked himself out. Then she replaced it in its cradle and ate an entire pan of her mom's double chocolate brownies. Then she threw up. She felt fragile and shattered all the time, especially walking down the halls by herself. She was the smartest girl in school, but she felt like everyone could see how stupid she'd been.

Jonathan transferred soon after, and she just sort of drifted through classes without any feelings at all. Oddly enough, it was Freddy who'd pulled her back. Freddy had taken an instant dislike to Jonathan and rarely missed out on a chance to offer a snide comment when he saw him. Even when they'd broken up, he continued to pester Summer, although his comments lacked the maliciousness they'd had when she was with Jonathan. She found herself forgetting Jonathan when they argued. Not that she'd ever tell him, but the stomach flip had started soon after.

Now, she continued to stare at the road, choosing to focus on Jimi Hendrix's voice rather than Freddy. Suddenly, he spoke again.

"I'm sorry Summer. That was way out of line. None of that stuff was your fault. He was a total jerk to you," he said, his voice as serious as she'd ever heard it. They'd arrived at the party, but she just sat in the seat, the car still on and turned to stare at him.

"Don't pretend you even cared about that Freddy," she said. "I know you hated him and you've always hated me too. I'm over it anyway." She turned off the car and reached for the door, only to be stopped by Freddy's hand on her arm.

"Is that really what you think?" he asked, eyes unreadable in the dark of the car.

"Well, it's sort of obvious. We fight all the time, about everything, and I know you think I'm just a grade-grubbing smarty-pants," she said. She was surprised again by his hand tightening on her arm.

"Well, I don't. hate you, I mean. In fact, I don't hate you at _all_," he said in a low voice, and then, before Summer could even register it, he'd leaned over the seat and brushed his lips across her cheek. Then he pulled back and climbed out of the car, walking around to open her door. She just sat there for a moment, the somersaults going at a rapid pace, before accepting his hand as she climbed out of the car. She couldn't really think. All she was conscious of was the way his voice had sounded during his "at all" statement and the softness of his lips as they brushed her cheek. For some reason, she thought she didn't hate Freddy Jones either, and she didn't know if she ever really had. As he followed her into the house, she thought, _This is shaping up to be a very interesting evening_

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Pretty please review!


	2. Ask Me Why

Thanks so much to everyone who reviewed Chapter 1. You guys are awesome!!

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Summer sat on the stairs of the back porch poking through her goody bag. The party was winding down and she had absolutely no desire to smile at anyone else or remark "Gee, this is so great for us…it's such a growing experience." She preferred to be left alone with her free magic eight ball keychain and the cicadas. Of course since she wanted to be left alone, she was unsurprised when the screen door banged behind her and Freddy plopped down next to her.

"So…this party kinda sucks huh? I mean, it is so boring in there," he gave her a sideways look. "I mean…I guess you already know that, or you wouldn't be out here." He looked at her again, obviously expecting her to continue the conversation. Summer sighed. Honestly, the boy seemed to think that a fifteen minute car ride made them best buddies. If he was expecting her to say anything, then he was sadly mistaken. She thought back to the kiss in the car. What was that about anyway? Did that mean something or was it just Freddy being his usual player self? Was it bad that she kinda wanted him to do it again? It had been pretty quick after all…

"Don't you need to be inside?" she blurted, realizing afterwards that she'd resolved not to speak to him. He merely lifted an eyebrow in her direction.

"I am the drummer. I don't have to be anywhere I don't want to be," he said. They sat in silence for a few minutes.

"Hey…wanna ditch and get some ice-cream?" he asked. Normally Summer would've told him exactly where he could put his ice cream, but for some reason she found herself actually considering his insane proposition. It was true that the party was boring, and she was partial to DQ Blizzards.

"Yeah, ok," she said, standing up and following him off the porch. They walked in silence to her car, but when Freddy headed towards the driver's seat, Summer knew it was time to use the shred of dignity she had left.

"Excuse me, but nobody drives my car except me," she said, pushing him out of the way and climbing in. With a longsuffering sigh, he headed for the passenger seat.

"Are you always this uptight about everything?" he asked. Summer regarded him for a moment.

"Yes," she replied. It was true. As much as she'd love to be a daring Thelma and Louise type person, the truth was that Summer Hathaway was boring. She'd never even considered ditching a promo party before. Yet here she was, in her car with Freddy Jones, heading towards the great unknown (ok, the local Dairy Queen, but for Summer, that _was_ the unknown). They sat in silence while Freddy rummaged in her CDs. He reached under his seat and pulled out the stack of burned CDs. A frown crossed his face.

"Do you ever listen to these?" he asked. Summer didn't really know how to respond. She could never understand why Freddy had insisted on burning her so many CDs. There was a point where he'd come up almost every day and hand her a CD, insisting that she expand her musical taste (especially after they'd spend half an hour arguing over a particular song). She would usually just put them in the drawer under the passenger seat and forget about them. Now though, she regretted she hadn't listened to them all (though why she felt that way she didn't know…after all, it _was_ Freddy). He sighed and popped one in. Summer recognized it as one that he'd burned shortly after an argument over Garage rock. She'd insisted that 10,000 Maniacs were the epitome of garage rock, and he'd insisted the Clash ruled the genre before it had even been established as a genre. The CD started out with "Train in Vain" and Summer was pretty sure that it had the best of the Clash and the Cure. She sneaked a look at Freddy. His eyes were closed, listening. She didn't know what it was about him, but he confused her.

Summer did not enjoy being confused. She prided herself on being able to figure out anything, whether it was a person or a particularly difficult math problem. Freddy though…she couldn't figure him out. One minute she hated him, the next he was making her laugh, and the next she found herself thinking he was incredibly attractive.

"Turn left!" Freddy suddenly shouted, opening his eyes. Summer was jolted from her musings and she managed to swerve left into the parking lot.

"How did you even know we were here?" she asked as they walked towards the entrance.

"Call it my innate DQ sensing abilities," he said. "Besides, Zack and I used to come here all the time to write songs during class last year." Summer laughed.

"Only you could convince Zack to ditch class," she said. He wiggled his eyebrows at her.

"Oh, I am a _very_ persuasive person," he said. Summer just rolled her eyes, and then felt a little guilty. Summer Hathaway, actually having a good time with Freddy Jones? The world had officially started spinning the other way.

A few minutes later found them at a booth eating ice-cream. Summer took a bite of her chocolate dipped cone and stared at Freddy who was busy inhaling a banana split. He'd also just finished an ice-cream cone.

"How can you even fit that much ice-cream in your stomach? Aren't you afraid it's going to explode?" she asked.

"You'd be surprised at the size of my stomach," Freddy replied, barely looking up. Then he abruptly put down his spoon and looked her straight in the face.

"Ok, it's my turn to ask you a question," he said. Before Summer could protest, he went on to say "Why don't you listen to my CDs? I know you don't, so it's no good lying and saying you do." Summer blushed, that was exactly what she'd been planning on doing.

"That's unfair!" she said instead, "my question wasn't serious!"

"Well then, I guess you wasted your question then," he smirked. "Now answer."

Summer thought for a moment. "I don't know. I guess I just didn't think it was that important."

Freddy crossed his arms and said "Well, it was. So I'd appreciate it if you would actually listen to them." _Amazing_, Summer thought, _he actually seems upset_. Instead of saying that out loud, she simply said "Ok. I'll listen to them."

"All of them?" he said, one eyebrow raised skeptically.

"All of them," she said with a sigh, although she didn't really mind. He grinned and went back to eating. As she watched him, something crossed her mind.

"So, are we _friends_ now or something?" she asked. Ever since that confusing car ride earlier in the evening, they'd certainly been acting like friends. They'd teased each other, had a serious conversation, and now they were eating ice-cream together.

"We've always been friends," he replied, pulling the cherry off his split and offering it to her. She shook her head and said,

"No we haven't. we've never hung out without the rest of the band. Besides, we don't get along. So why now? Why did you suddenly decide you want us to be best buddies?" she said, exasperated.

"I think we get along just fine. Besides, that's two questions, and that's against the rules," he said. "Now, what's your favorite color?"

Summer just stared at him. She'd never known anyone who could jump from random subject to random subject like Freddy. Finally, she just laughed a little and said,

"Blue. Yours?"

"Green. Favorite comfort movie?"

"Pride and Prejudice. The long one. Guilty pleasure read?"

"Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Worst grade you've ever gotten?"

The subjects went on. A few hours later, Summer knew that Freddy Jones could make fabulous pancakes but couldn't scramble an egg. He could whistle the entire guitar solo on "Stairway to Heaven" and learned to play Disney songs on the guitar for his little sister. He knew that once she'd colored on her mom's walls and blamed it on her brother, that she was deathly afraid of grasshoppers and that she'd memorized all the poems in Alice in Wonderland. However, Summer couldn't help noticing that he still hadn't answered her first question. For the moment though, she was happy just to be sitting in an empty Dairy Queen with someone who seemed genuinely interested in what she was saying.

They kept asking questions, even after the Dairy Queen workers had kicked them out so they could close the restaurant. As they headed back to her car, Summer remembered a question that had been troubling her since the beginning of this strange, oddly enjoyable night. She stood on her tiptoes, catching Freddy's eyes over the top of the car.

"Hey Freddy, why'd you kiss me?"

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Yes, an evil cliffhanger!!! 


	3. Something

Thanks again to all you lovely, lovely reviewers! Sorry this update took so long…I was working at a camp and then my internet died…always such fun…

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"Hey Freddy, why'd you kiss me?" the moment Summer said it, she wanted to find a hole somewhere she could crawl into and die. They'd been having a perfectly nice time and she had to bring the awkwardness of their first car ride back.

For a moment, his eyes held hers over the top of the car and Summer almost couldn't breathe. Then abruptly, he opened his door and slid into the passenger seat. Summer stood there for a minute, confused before sliding into the driver's seat. There had been a moment when she'd seen something in his eyes that she'd never really seen before. She wasn't sure what it was, but his chocolate gaze didn't have his normal teasing expression.

They sat in the car in silence for a few minutes. When Summer finally gathered her courage and peeked at Freddy, he seemed very absorbed in studying the front of the glove compartment. She started the car in silence and they both jumped slightly as the CD began blaring. Summer was about to put the car into gear when Freddy reached over and turned down the volume, catching her eyes again.

"Listen Summer…don't…don't ask me that, ok? I don't know why. It just sort of happened, you know?" he said, running a hand through his hair.

"So you're saying it was a mistake?" To her surprise, Summer found her voice rising to a semi-hysterical pitch, though she couldn't figure out exactly why she was so upset. She knew she should have been happy that it didn't mean anything, but for some inexplicable reason, she wasn't. However, before she could become properly hysterical, Freddy quickly said,

"No! That's not what I meant," he paused for a moment and then continued, "It's just that after you and Sanders broke up, you weren't the same anymore. you'd be somewhere without really being there. You never even offered an opinion when I'd say something, and let's face it, you have an opinion about everything I do. I never really realized how much fun it was to argue with you. So I started saying stuff I knew would make you mad…cause I guess I just missed it. The arguing, you know. Then you actually started arguing back, and I knew that you were finally you again. So, I guess what I'm trying to say is that I'm glad you're back." He smiled then, a real smile, and reached forward to turn up the CD.

Summer Hathaway found herself speechless. Normally, this never occurred, but since she'd begun spending time with Freddy Jones it seemed to happen more and more often. She never thought she'd see the day when Freddy would actually admit he liked spending time with her, and as much as she hated to admit it, she liked spending time with him too. She liked how he always had something to say about everything. Whenever she and Jonathan had fought, he'd refused to respond to any of her words; he'd just turned and walked away. Freddy though…she didn't think he'd ever turned down a fight.

"Anyway," he said, "are these the only CDs you have? I'm noticing a serious lack of David Bowie."

She grinned and reached over, popping open the glove compartment and pulling out a copy of _Hunky Dory_. She stuck it in the player and said,

"Are you _happy _now?" she turned to him and raised her eyebrows. He smiled.

"Yes, actually, I am."

The rest of the ride back to Freddy's house passed in silence. However, unlike many of their previous silences, this one was companionable, even comfortable. When they pulled into his driveway, Summer found herself regretting the night was over.

"Well, I guess I'll see you at band practice on Monday," she said lamely, thinking that of all the cool things she could've said, that was the best she'd come up with. She'd wanted to say something about the pancakes, or the sundaes, or even garage rock, but for some reason, she felt a little tongue-tied. He smirked at her.

"Actually, my car isn't going to be fixed until Wednesday morning. I was hoping I could get a ride with you since Zack lives so far outside town," he said, making no move to get out of the car.

Summer considered this. On the one hand, she'd have to endure another day of Freddy Jones messing up her car and critiquing her CDs. On the other hand, he'd just admitted he didn't despise her, and she was intrigued with this new side of Freddy Jones. Plus there was the undeniable fact that he looked incredibly attractive, even in a beat-up t-shirt. So she settled for a neutral shrug and a,

"Sure, that'd be fine." He grinned at her and opened his door. He headed up to his house, but at the last minute, he turned back and started rummaging in his pocket.

"Here, I forgot. I got this at the party and thought you should have it," he said, handing her something small and red.

"What's this?" Summer asked doubtfully, looking down at the piece of plastic in her palm.

"It's a fortune- telling fish. You put it in your hand and it tells you how you feel. If its head moves, then you're jealous. If the tail moves then you're indifferent. If it flips over, then you're false, and if the head and tail both move then you're in love."

"What if it doesn't do anything?" Summer asked.

"Then it's a dead fish," Freddy replied, grinning.

"And you gave this to me because…? Do I remind you of a red sea creature?" Summer raised an eyebrow at him.

"No…it's like a fortune thing, like a mood ring. Don't girls love that kind of thing?" he asked.

Summer regarded the fish for a moment. It stared back.

"Yeah, we just love those!" she said in as sarcastic a tone as she could manage. "And after that we like to hold mirrors up and walk downstairs to see the face of our future husband!"

"Yeah, ha ha, very funny," he rolled his eyes at her and she laughed. He ran a hand though his hair again and started up his driveway.

Summer watched him go and reflected that she had never felt as confused about a person as she did about Freddy. She watched him let himself into his house and looked down at the little fish in her palm. The head and tail were curled up.

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Sorry this chapter is shorter than all the others (which are short of begin with) I wasn't 100 percent happy with this one…so it is going to be short. 


	4. Act Naturally

Sorry about the extreme lateness of this chapter…I was moving into school and then the internet was nonexistent…and I couldn't really decide where I wanted the plot to go…

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After sitting in the driveway for sixteen and a half minutes, Summer resisted the urge to call Freddy again. She already knew what would happen… considering she'd already called a few times (ok, more like several) to remind him not to be late to practice.

In the seven or so years the band had been together, Summer had never been late to band practice once. Even though as manager she wasn't an "official" member of the band, she still made it a priority to be there on time. Especially since this was the last official practice of vacation. The band was busy getting ready to play at Katie's annual Back To School party. To anyone who was anyone, this party was the social event of the summer. Summer knew that some of the band members had even started planning what they were going to wear back in June.

Summer usually didn't give the party much thought. By the time school was about to start, she focused more on AP classes and extra-curriculars than the latest Marc Jacobs dress. However, this year was her senior year and she'd already applied for early admission at her top schools (and had been assured by several counselors that she'd get in). She really didn't have so much to think about anymore.

College had always been the ultimate goal. Even in grade school, she'd concentrated on the highest grades and perfect attendance in hopes of getting into a better school. Now that she was finished, she didn't really know what was next. She couldn't imagine a life that wasn't about taking the next step or looking forward and working towards a goal. Summer prided herself on being a goal-oriented person, but she wondered what the point was of being a goal-oriented person when there really weren't any more goals to achieve.

Now, she punched Freddy's number into her phone, and listened with frustration as his ring back sounded…again. By this time, she already knew all the words to "Panama." Then she mouthed along with Freddy's voice as his answering machine picked up. "Hey, this is Freddy. I'm not here…obviously. So leave a message." Extremely irritated, Summer slammed her phone shut and proceeded to honk her horn. Several times. She was struck with the similarity of the scene. Here she was, waiting for Freddy, in her car, much like the previous Friday. Just then, the door opened.

"Finally," Summer muttered. However, while the person stepping out of the house did bear a resemblance to Freddy, it was a decidedly feminine frame that was heading toward Summer's car. Summer felt like smacking her head on the steering wheel in embarrassment. Mrs. Jones rapped on the window, and Summer reluctantly rolled down the window.

"Was that you honking the horn just now?" she asked in a dangerous sounding voice.

"Yes," Summer mumbled, absolutely mortified. "I was supposed to give Freddy a ride to band practice and we're really late and…" she trailed off under Mrs. Jones' glare. Freddy's mother was tall and blonde like her son, but unlike his teasing brown eyes, hers were a rather fierce blue. A rather fierce blue that made Summer feel like hiding behind one of Freddy's well manicured hedges. After scrutinizing Summer for several minutes, Mrs. Jones sighed and stepped back from Summer's window.

"Freddy's not here at the moment. He got a call earlier and had to go meet someone at the airport. I lent him my car," she said.

"Oh," Summer said, "Did he mention who he was getting?" she was trying very hard to be civil when all she really wanted to do was find Freddy and throw something at him. Hopefully something large and heavy, like one of his cymbals.

"Oh…just a friend," Mrs. Jones said. She narrowed her eyes. "Now if you will excuse me, I would like to get back to my dinner."

"Sure, I'm sorry I bothered you," Summer said quickly, rolling up the window and backing out of the driveway. Once Freddy's house was out of sight, she gave a groan.

"He didn't even call! Not even one word, nothing!" she shouted. The driver of the car next to her gave her a strange look. She didn't care. She'd thought that after the fun they'd had on the weekend that they were actually starting to be friends. Worse than that, there had been a flash the other night when she'd felt something distinctly more than friendship-ish when he'd handed her that stupid fish (said stupid fish was now taped to the inside of the glove compartment). In fact, if she wanted to be very honest with herself, when he'd told her he was happy, a large part of her hoped that he was happy because he was with her.

_Stupid, stupid, stupid!_ she thought, shaking her head to clear it of any confusing thoughts about a certain blond drummer. She forced herself to think of all the times he'd insulted her or laughed at her or critiqued her. Luckily, these thoughts lasted until she got to practice, so by the time she walked through the door she was good and mad.

Summer slammed open the door to the studio and glared at the beginning students who were assembled in the front room, all clutching various rock instruments. She made her way to the back of the building to the band's normal practice room. As she approached, she could hear the faint strains of music coming from behind the door…music that definitely had a drumbeat in the background. She made sure to make a lot of noise banging through the door, and felt oddly pleased with herself when the entire band stopped playing and stared at her. At the moment though, Summer only had eyes for Freddy, who was sitting behind his drum kit and avoiding looking back at her.

On the way to the School of Rock studio, Summer had planned exactly what she was going to say to Freddy. It would be cutting and clever, and he would feel absolutely shriveled by her contempt. However, upon facing him in the flesh, Summer found that she was so angry she couldn't choke the words out. Instead she just pointed her finger and spluttered, "y-you…absolutely vile!" Summer thought that if she'd had a few more minutes, she probably could've come up with something else (preferably something more coherent…with an actual verb), but at that moment, Freddy slipped out from behind his drums, took her arm, and propelled her into one of the unused rooms, leaving the rest of the band to stare after them in confusion.

Once inside, he closed the door and turned to face her, his hand still on her arm. She wrenched it away and marched over to the other side of the room, so they were facing each other with about ten feet of distance between. Summer broke the silence before Freddy had a chance to say anything.

"Not one word! No 'Thanks Summer, but I'm actually doing something else' or anything! You just assumed it'd be ok if you waltzed off without telling me. Why would you ever think that you could treat me like this and it would be fine? You said we were friends, but apparently your definition of the word must be vastly different than mine!" she squared her shoulders and was about to storm out of the room when Freddy moved, blocking her exit.

"Oh no you don't," he said, "I'm not letting you walk out of here without letting me explain."

"Let you explain?" she asked. "I don't think so. If I do, you'll inevitably give me some overblown, clichéd excuse about how you simply couldn't call because you lost your cell phone and then a Very Important Person came into town and your mother insisted that you pick them up at the airport because she just _couldn't _change the time of her facial. Save it, ok? I don't care."

His eyes narrowed and he seemed about to say something, but they were interrupted by a knock on the door. It opened a crack and Zack poked his head in.

"Hey Freddy, I found your phone. I guess you left it at my house on Sunday and it wound up in my guitar case. You'd better check your messages cause you have about a million of them," he said, tossing Freddy's phone at him. Freddy caught it easily saying, "Thanks, man."

"Ok, I'll just let the two of you get back to your…uh…discussion," Zack said, closing the door.

Freddy quirked an eyebrow at Summer.

"Actually…it was a massage, not a facial," he said.

"Oh," Summer said. She probably would've said something else, but she found herself distracted by his sudden closeness. She'd stood near to Freddy Jones on multiple occasions, but this time she was a little surprised to find that her heart was thumping. She would like to have chalked it up to anger, but the tickly sensation she felt when their eyes met didn't really feel like anger. Freddy also seemed to be affected, since he was staring at her with the same half confused and half fascinated look. Summer didn't like to think about what she would've said next if they hadn't been interrupted by the door banging open.

She and Freddy sprung apart as though electrocuted. Summer looked up and met the amused eyes of a redheaded girl.

"Freddy, I wondered where you'd gotten to," she said, flipping shiny hair over one shoulder and eyeing Summer with an expression that clearly said, _You poor thing._

"Oh…hey," Freddy said, looking extremely uncomfortable. "Megan, this is Summer. She's the band manager. Summer, this is Megan. She's my…umm…,"

"I'm his girlfriend," she interrupted, giving Summer a smile. There was an awkward pause.

"Oh, I see," Summer finally managed. "It's nice to meet you Megan, but I was just leaving," she finished quickly, brushing by the two of them and walking (alright, it was more like jogging) down the hall. She thought she heard Freddy call her name, but she was probably just imagining it.

Megan's words seemed to echo around in her head as she exited the building. _Girlfriend. Girlfriend. GIRLFRIEND._ Of course he had a girlfriend. Freddy _always_ had a girlfriend. She told herself shouldn't care. A few hours of companionship did not equal potential romance. She was simply confusing physical attractiveness with personal feeling. She wasn't upset. Really. She wasn't. Besides, she didn't need him. He was annoying and confusing and his mother was awful. She definitely could never have any sort of feeling for Freddy whatsoever. It would be impossible. With these thoughts, Summer Hathaway climbed into her car and drove off, determined to forget any confusing feelings related to a certain unavailable drummer.

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Yay! I put Zack in… I just really love him in the film. He is so nerdy! Hopefully he will be making another, more extended appearance later on. Anyway, thanks to all you who review, you make my day! 


	5. I've Just Seen a Face

I promise that the next update will be sooner. I have been really busy the past month…but I should be finishing this up soon (there will probably be only one or two chapters more)

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Summer stared bleakly at her copy of Barron's How to Prepare for AP Calculus. She was still on the 4th page, and had been for the past few hours. Normally, her idea of Saturday night fun wasn't studying for a test that she wasn't planning on taking until May, but she was desperate for distraction. She'd already tried the mall, and then had driven to the library a few hours ago and had plunked down in one of the corners. Thankfully, being a Saturday evening, there was hardly anyone around, so she could mope properly. It had been a week since she'd seen him last, and the most distressing fact was that despite all her distractions, she still wasn't able to forget about a certain brown-eyed, girlfriend-having drummer.

This was, of course, ridiculous. She knew that she'd disliked Freddy Jones since she'd met him, and she'd never really given him much though in the first place. However, since that first car ride, she couldn't stop thinking about him. She couldn't believe how he could go from being someone she despised to someone she wanted to kiss (She had no idea where the kiss thought had even come from, but once she'd thought it, she couldn't stop thinking about it). She even found herself imagining conversations with him, which was a further sign that she was either going crazy or something was seriously wrong. She just needed something to distract her.

After this revelation, Summer had been full of resolve. She'd convinced herself that any attraction to Freddy was simply brought on by lack of purpose and boredom. She'd ejected the CD he'd made (she'd been listening to "Troubadour Rock" which featured Gentle Giant and Jethro Tull), put on the most un-Freddy CD she had (namely The Finches, since she knew Freddy hated them), and made a list.

She'd cleaned her car and her room, and then had made several lists of goals to be achieved for the next ten years. Then she'd paced for awhile until she came up with the idea of going somewhere in her car. She'd gone to the mall, where nothing fit or looked good. She'd bought a dress, which was lying in a wad on the floor of her car. She had a sneaking suspicion that she'd probably never wear it. However, materialism couldn't cure the feeling of restlessness, so she'd left and gone to the library, where she sat in the children's section and read her old favourite books by James Marshall. Unfortunately, even George and Martha couldn't help. It wasn't until she hit page 5 of Barron's that realised she had a problem.

Normally, Summer was the type that enjoyed solving problems. She'd list the pros and cons and make a logical, informed decision. She'd never found herself in a situation she couldn't reason her way out of before (even with Jonathan, she'd been able to make an objective list of the reasons they weren't really compatible in the first place). Her list about Freddy wasn't as clearly organized (but this was probably because it was written sloppily on the page reserved for scratch work). It read as follows:

_Cons_- is extremely irritating, always thinks he's right, doesn't appreciate my musical taste, womanizer, 10 second attention span, not academic, has a girlfriend

_Pros_- is very attractive, makes me laugh, gave me CDs

Looking back over it, she realized the cons far outnumbered the pros, and so she should have convinced herself that she did not, in fact, like Freddy. Annoyingly enough, this did nothing to stop the nagging feeling of rejection and her memory of the acute pain she'd felt somewhere around her heart after finding out about his girlfriend. Angry at her emotions and thoroughly disappointed at the unfairness of the universe, she slammed the book shut and leaned her head back against the stacks, closing her eyes and uttering a frustrated sigh. Then she heard footsteps approaching. Wondering who dared to intrude upon her misery, she opened her eyes and found herself staring into Freddy's chocolate brown gaze.

"Thought I'd find you here," he said with a satisfied smirk, sliding down next to her. Summer was a little nonplussed. Freddy Jones was sitting next to her in the library. She had been fairly confident that Freddy didn't even know there was a library in town, much less how to find his way around one. Then there was the fact that he actually seemed to be looking for her.

"How did you even know I was here?" she asked, momentarily forgetting that she had decided that she was a.) Mad at him and b.) Determined to forget about him.

"You bookish types," he said grinning at her again, "almost always go to the library to sulk."

"Maybe I just like to read," Summer countered, easily falling back into the familiar feeling of arguing with Freddy.

"Nah," he said, "You were sulking. You have the AP calculus book." Summer looked guiltily at her book.

"I just thought it would be good to get a head start in class. Some of us have GPA's to uphold. Besides, _if_ I was sulking, which I was most certainly _not_, it isn't very nice of you to come and interrupt me," Summer said, suddenly remembering exactly why she was upset. She started to get up, but Freddy reached up and grabbed her hand, pulling her back down next to him.

"Hey, listen, I'm sorry about the weirdness last week," he said. "I tried to catch you, but you left really fast."

"I…uh...just had somewhere I had to be," Summer said quickly. She looked down and realized their hands were still attached. She snatched her hand from his and folded both her hands in her lap, and attempting to stop the blush she knew was spreading over her face said, "I didn't…umm...feel very well… and I had to go home and help with the…ummm…laundry."

"Oh, the laundry," he said with another one of those smiles, the kind that made her glad she was sitting down, because it made her knees feel a little like jello, "I thought you were just upset about Megan."

"Megan?" Summer repeated, hoping he hadn't noticed the way her voice had suddenly gone high and squeaky, "Why would I care about Megan? I mean, I don't care about you having a girlfriend, I'm really just surprised you could survive a relationship, that's all." He gave her a thoughtful look.

"That's what I thought." He said, making no move to leave. Summer was starting to feel very uncomfortable. She could hardly think with Freddy sitting so close (especially when he smelled so good, like soap and clean laundry), and she had a strange feeling that she had somehow told him exactly what he wanted to hear.

"So…my mother told me you dropped by," he said, breaking the silence. Summer felt her face flush again.

"I was just upset and I…" Freddy cut her off mid apology.

"Don't worry about it, she thought you were charming."

"I'm sure. The death glare right before she said 'I'd like to get back to my dinner' definitely meant she'd like to have me over for tea," Summer said.

"I was going to say that by charming, she meant obnoxious," he said. Summer glared at him. "I'm kidding about that, she said you looked like a very nice girl and that you were very polite."

"Oh hooray. That's what I've always wanted to be, nice and polite," Summer rolled her eyes. He snorted, and then they both began to laugh.

A strict glance from a passing librarian sobered them both, and as they sat companionably in the stacks, the thought crossed her mind that it was nice to just be sitting next to Freddy Jones and laughing about nothing. She turned to look at him, studying his profile. He turned to face her and she was suddenly distracted by his lips, which were right in front of her. He said something but she didn't hear because his mouth had inexplicably become extremely fascinating.

"I said, do you want to get out of here?" Freddy said a little louder. Summer jerked her eyes away from his lips and tried to focus on what he'd said. She couldn't really understand the person she'd become. She could hardly even look at him anymore without blushing or getting distracted. She pulled her thoughts away from thoughts of Freddy Jones' distracting attributes and said, "Sure, let's go." She reasoned that anything would be better than staying in a confines space with him. At least in the car she'd have the gearshift between them. Unfortunately, her body had other ideas.

He reached out and helped her up, and as she stood, her mouth_accidentally_ collided with his. In reality, the kiss only lasted a few seconds, but to Summer, it felt a lot longer, most likely due to the fireworks that had made a sudden appearance behind her eyelids. Suddenly, she realized what she'd done and jerked away from him.

"I'm so sorry! I…have to go…" she didn't even look at him; she just tore out of the building, not looking back until she was safely pulling away. What had she been thinking? She'd kissed Freddy! She'd practically jumped him in the library, like some kind of wild woman. He had a girlfriend, and she had done it anyway. He didn't even like her! Summer didn't even recognize herself anymore. She used to know exactly who she was, but this insane attraction was turning her into some sort of idiotic, emotionally-driven hussy. She never acted like that around Jonathan. She'd been too in awe of him to consider grabbing him and kissing him.

As she pulled into her driveway, she wondered if there were any Tibetan convents that she could enter, or if the abbey in the Sound of Music would take her. She would make a great nun. Then she wouldn't have to see Freddy ever again and the feelings would probably leave. Then she noticed an unfamiliar white car parked in her driveway. As she got out of the car, the driver of the other car got out too and Summer recognized the red hair and insanely fashionable clothes.

"We need to talk," Megan said.

For a panicked minute, Summer thought that Megan had mind-reading powers and had somehow found out what had happened in the library, but the other girl put her hands on her hips and said,

"I just thought you should know that I'm not really Freddy's girlfriend."

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Another Cliff-hanger! I just can't seem to stop! Who is Megan really? His daughter? (probably not, he's way too young) Anyway, liked it? Disliked it? Didn't care one way or another? Please Review and let me know! 


	6. All My Lovin

Well folks, here it is…the last chapter! (I've never actually finished any chaptered stories before…so this is a big deal for me…) I tried really hard to get this out over finals…and it's super-long! Anyway, it gave me a break from writing essays. Enjoy!

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Summer Hathaway was really starting to hate the feeling of being speechless. However, when hit with such a matter-of-fact pronouncement, she felt there really wasn't anything to do except stare with a sort of gaping-mouth amazement. 

"What do you mean, not his girlfriend?" she asked, trying to stop the voices that were suddenly clamouring for attention and her head…and ignoring the funny bubble feeling she suddenly felt in her stomach.

"I mean that Freddy and I are not in any sort of non-platonic, physical benefits relationship," Megan replied, looking down at her neatly manicured nails as though the conversation bored her.

"But…you said you were his girlfriend," Summer said. She wanted to smack herself for sounding like a broken record player, but she couldn't seem to help herself.

"I know what I _said_. I'm saying it was a lie," Megan spoke slowly, as though she was talking to a very slow person. Then she seemed to take pity on Summer's shocked state and elaborated. "I'm actually his cousin."

"What?" Summer yelped.

"Second cousin really. We've known each other a long time. When I decided to come and visit, Freddy said that if I told people he was his girlfriend, he'd give me one-hundred dollars and let me use the Lexus. I think he's insane, but I needed a new skirt. I just thought you'd like to know." Megan flipped her hair over her shoulder and turned to leave.

"Wait, why would you think I'd care?" Summer asked, trying her best to look indifferent and not like she was dying of curiosity. "Freddy and I aren't involved or anything. In fact, we can hardly stand each other."

"Oh…don't you and Freddy…I mean…he talks about you all the time." Megan, for the first time, seemed embarrassed and a little nervous. "I guess I was wrong. Sorry for bothering you." She climbed into her car and drove off, leaving Summer standing in her driveway.

Summer had read a lot about shock victims, but she never really understood what it might feel like to be in shock until she heard Freddy didn't have a girlfriend. Furthermore, he'd paid his _cousin_ to pretend to be his girlfriend. Summer was beginning to think she'd never really know anything at all about Freddy Jones. Just when she thought she'd figured him out, he went and did something that completely changed her mind.

She kept coming back to the _why_ of the question. He'd had no reason to pretend that he had a girlfriend unless he wanted to make someone jealous. Summer remembered that he had been talking to Katie a lot lately…and she'd seen them having coffee once. They'd probably be a good couple. They both played actual instruments and didn't just stand around being bossy. For some reason though, this thought made her feel like she was going to be sick. She tried to rationalize it. There was no reason for her to feel like this. She didn't like Freddy. And, ok, so she'd jumped him in the library just a few minutes earlier. That was just a result of too much book dust in her lungs. It had impaired her judgement. Feeling better, she turned to go inside.

Then it hit her. In hindsight, Summer wished she could've had this epiphany somewhere else, since the driveway was not a romantic spot to realize that her worst enemy had somehow become the object of her affections. But there it was. The thought that had somehow eluded her for the past few weeks was suddenly staring her in the face. She understood why she'd listened obsessively to the CDs he'd made and why she kept that dumb fish taped to her car.

She liked Freddy.

Really, really liked him. Liked him so much that the idea of him with someone else made her feel physically sick and like smashing something. Liked him so much that she wanted to write a song or a poem for him. Summer couldn't remember feeling this way about Jonathan. With him, she'd simply gone along and felt lucky to have a boyfriend. With Freddy, she wanted to hold his hand and eat ice cream with him and fight with him about the merits of John Mayer versus John Mellencamp.

Summer sat down on the driveway. Her mental faculties were starting to sound like a bad romance novel. The epiphany feeling was wearing off, and she felt nervous and confused. What did normal people do when they liked someone? Should she call him? She had already made a physical advancement…but what if he hated her? What if he liked someone else, and just found her annoying and pretentious.

After these thoughts, Summer remembered what Marta had done when she'd liked someone. They did it on "How to be a Millionaire." She decided to call a friend.

"Zack, is that you?"

"Hey Summer, what's up?" he sounded relaxed and Summer envied his untroubled mental state.

"I have a problem. Do you have time to talk?" _Please say yes, please say yes_, Summer thought.

"Sure," he replied. "What's the matter?"

Normally, when Summer had a problem, Zack wouldn't be the first on her list. However, Zack was Freddy's best friend, and she figured if anyone knew anything about the workings of his mind, it would be Zack.

"Well…I…have this…friend…and she likes this guy, but she doesn't know if he likes her and she doesn't know what to do and she'd really confused and normally, she's really a smart person but for some reason she just feels awkward and helpless. What would you do?" Summer took a breath. She'd started out haltingly, but the last half of her speech had come out so quickly it was almost like one long word.

"Ok, what?" Zack (understandably) just sounded puzzled.

Deciding that honesty was probably the best way to go in this situation, Summer decided to take the plunge.

"IthinkIlikeFreddy."

"What?"

"I like Freddy ok! I like him a lot and I don't know what to do!" Summer was mildly surprised at the vehemence of her outburst. She realized that she was still sitting on her driveway in plain view of everyone. On the phone, Zack was silent.

"What? Does this mess everything up? Does he like someone else?" Summer felt a little panicked, but suddenly Zack's voice came back on the line.

"No, he doesn't have a girlfriend. I'm just surprised that you're telling me this. I thought he'd cave first for sure."

"What are you talking about?"

"Come on. You two have been dancing around each other for months. It was only a matter of time before the inevitable happened. Everyone thinks you guys should be together. Plus, the unresolved sexual tension thing just gets weird after awhile."

"Well, what do you think I should do? Should I tell him?" Summer scuffed her shoe on the pavement, mentally willing Zack to say no.

"I think you should. You two are the types that will never make a move without a declaration of some sort," he replied. "Wait, I have to go…listen, call me later and tell me how it goes ok?"

"Ok, thanks Zack," Summer said, sighing.

She hung up and sat for a minute. She knew she should call Freddy, but she couldn't bring herself to dial the phone. What if Zack was wrong? Suddenly, not knowing seemed like a good alternative. _I'll call him tonight_, Summer decided.

She spent the rest of the day trying to think of ways not to think about Freddy. She helped her mom in the kitchen and took her brother to soccer practice. She listened to more of Freddy's CDs, finishing the last one (Misc. Rock with The Red Button, Squeeze and Oingo Boingo), as dinner started. After dinner she helped clean the kitchen, and watched some documentary with her dad. At 9pm, she found herself in her room, with nothing to do (she'd cleaned it earlier) except call Freddy and confess her feelings, which seemed less and less like a fun activity. She narrowed her eyes at her phone…and nearly jumped out of her skin when it started ringing. She checked the caller I.D. and almost hyperventilated. It was Freddy. She realized she should pick up the phone.

"Hello?"

"Would you be really weirded out if I told you I was outside your house right now?" Freddy's voice over the phone was enough to make her feel all bubbly and tickly. She silently willed her emotions to get a grip. "I think we need to talk after…what happened today." Summer suddenly remembered what had happened at the library. As much as she'd like to see Freddy, she didn't particularly want to talk about _that_.

"Umm…" she started to say, but Freddy interrupted.

"Listen, just come down and we can go for a walk. I'll meet you in your front yard." He hung up and Summer gave a snort of exasperation, momentarily forgetting she was probably going to be confessing romantic feelings in a few minutes. However, she dutifully pulled on her coat and some shoes and shuffled out the door after telling her parents she was leaving for a bit.

When she got outside, she could make out Freddy standing on the lawn in a sweater and jeans. Her heart did a funny stutter. She walked up to him and they walked across her lawn and began to walk slowly down the sidewalk. The night wasn't particularly moonlit or snow-filled, but there was the beginning of fall in the air and an almost crescent moon in the sky.

"So," He said.

"So," she echoed. They walked a little further. Summer decided it was now or never.

"I talked to Megan today. You know, your _cousin_? She's such a nice girl." She looked over at him and watched his eyebrows go up.

"You found out." It wasn't a question.

"Yeah." He sighed then and stopped walking, turning to face Summer, his eyes serious.

"Summer, I didn't mean to lie. At least, it didn't start out that way. I just thought that if you were jealous…"

"Wait, you wanted to make me jealous?" Summer asked, not really sure if she'd heard him right.

"Well who else would I make jealous?" he looked genuinely confused, so Summer explained.

"I thought you liked Katie. You guys had coffee once."

"_Once_being the operative word. Plus, I never burned her any CDs did I? By the way, did you ever listen to those?"

Summer was glad it was dark so he couldn't see her blushing. "I listened to all of them."

"Good," he said, and then he was reaching out and taking her hand in his. "The question is, Miss Hathaway, were you jealous?"

"No," she said, but she'd barely gotten the word out when he suddenly stepped close, tipped her face up to his, and kissed her soundly.

She couldn't think of anything to say, so she just stared up at him, in shock.

"As much as I enjoyed the one at the library, it took me by surprise. I had to retaliate," he grinned at her, his eyes sparkling wickedly. Summer hoped she wasn't wearing too silly of a grin.

"In that case, think how much fun it'll be when we're both prepared," she said.

He raised an eyebrow at her. "I can't wait." Then he was kissing her again, his hands moving to cup her face. When they finally stepped apart, they were both breathing hard and Summer was pretty sure that she had discovered a much better use for Freddy's mouth than arguing.

"So," he said, "Do you want to go to DQ or something? I've always wanted to treat my girlfriend to a Blizzard."

Summer grinned, feeling a happy bubble rising in her chest. "Ok, but I'm driving."

The End

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Wow, I actually finished something with multiple chapters! I hope you all enjoyed it! Please, please _please _leave me a review…they are my lifeblood…plus if I get enough I might write something else…you never know until you push the button! 


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